As I told you last week this group of schemes are used on one specific part of our population. Seniors, baby boomers and post baby boomers. They even have titles. I have found examples of these all over the net and my dad even experienced one of these years ago.
Counterfeit Prescriptions
Because prescription prices are high like all other medical costs seniors and others shop around online for less expensive prescriptions. They are easy to find online. This is where you may get ripped off twice. Many times, the scam artists are selling bogus or inferior drugs. Then you have wasted your money and your health declines.
Funeral Scam
Some criminals read the obituaries every day and some may even attend funerals of seniors. They will find as much information as they can about the survivor, especially contact information. Then a week or so later the widowed person will get a call saying that their spouse owed them some money and they were supposed to collect it and now they are gone. They get the bereaved to pay unwarranted charges. This is usually perpetrated in person.
Loving Grandparent Trick
A grandparent will get a call from a young person pretending to be their grandchild. They may speak unclearly so that the senior thinks it is their grandchild with a cold. They get the senior say the kid’s name and then work it further. The final outcome is that they need the grandparent to mail them money at college, someone’s home, or have it wired to their account directly.
Internet fraud
These scams include a call from someone claiming to be from a large computer company asking for permission to access the senior’s computer remotely to resolve a service issue or virus. The bad guy then accesses saved data on the computer, such as names, addresses, account numbers, and other personal information. They use the information to apply for loans, credit cards, or to steal the senior’s identity.
Medicare/Medicaid fraud
Medicare’s universal coverage makes it easy for perpetrators to pose (either on the phone, in person, or via email) as Medicare representatives and ask seniors to provide personal information which they can then use to set up accounts or apply for credit cards.
Nigerian fraud
You know you have heard of this one, maybe even seen it in your inbox. In one of the most common financial frauds of all time, a senior citizen receives a letter, an email, or a fax from a foreign “dignitary.” The correspondence promises huge monetary rewards in exchange for helping an official from a foreign country out of an embarrassing legal problem. All the senior needs to do, the correspondence states, is to send a small amount of money (in comparison to what he/she will receive in turn) to help out the foreign dignitary. Of course, the victim never receives any rich reward and loses the money that is sent.
Service scams
You receive a telephone call from what seems to be a legitimate company. There are problems with your account and the company simply needs to verify some information. The caller seems to already have information about you so you feel comfortable sharing additional information, such as your account number, to help the company correct the problems with your service.
So, be careful out there, no matter what your age!
